The 


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Chiefr  Daughter 


UNIVERSITY  OF 
ILLINOIS  LIBRARY  | 

AT  UR-ANA-CHAMPAIGN 
ILL.  HIST.  SURVEY 


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The  Chief's  Daughter 


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A  Legend 

of  Niagara 

By 

PAUL  CARUS 


Illustrations 


E.  BIEDERMANN 


CHICAGO 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

London  Agents  :    Kegan  Paul,  Trench,  Trubner  &  Co. 

I9OI 


copyright  by 

The  Open  Court  Publishing  Co. 

1901 


'  •  .^<d^t<JtA/r: 


CONTENTS. 


o 


The  Oniahgahrah  Indians 
The  Palefaced  Strangers 
The  Missionary     . 
The  Religion  of  Sacrifice 
The  Anxiety  of  Doubt    „ 
The  Ways  of  Revelation 
The  Priestess  .... 
Faithful  unto  Death  .'     . 
The  Tuscarora  Indians  . 


PAGE 
I 

8 

14 

21 

28 

31 
40 

45 
51 


PLATES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 


Lelawala.     Frontispiece. 

Niagara  Falls 2 

The  Ruler  of  the  Cataract  , 5 

The  Trading   Station  of  Chevalier  de  La 

Salle 8 

Father  Hennepin ii 

Visiting  the  Chief  and  His  Daughter  .  .  14 
Listening  to  the  Story  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  17 
Answering  the  Missionary's  Arguments     .    22 

The  Hour  of  Parting 30 

On  the  Bluffs  of  Cayuga 38 

The  Procession 41 

The  Priestess  . 43 

Faithful  unto  Death 48 


THE  ONIAHGAHRAH  INDIANS. 


NIAHGAHRAH, 
the  tHundering  waters, 
was  a  sight  as  fascina- 
ting and  sublime  hundreds  of  years  ago 
to  the  Indians  who  lived  there  as  it  is 
now  to  the  white  man. 

The  Oniahgahrah  Indians,  a  small 
tribe  belonging  to  the  Ongiahrahs, 
dwelt  upon  the  left  shore  of  the  river. 
They  were  a  peaceful  people  and  rarely 
participated  in  the  sanguinary  feuds  of 
their  warlike  neighbors.  The  Huron s 
and  the  Iroquois,  the  Onondagas,  the 


2  THE  chief's  daughter. 

Oneidas,  and  the  other  surrounding 
tribes  were  constantly  at  strife  with 
one  another ;  but  all  avoided  provoking 
or  offending  the  Oniahgahrahs,  for  the 
Oniahgahrahs  were  a  people  beloved 
by  the  Great  Spirit. 

The  Oniahgahrahs,  although  a  small 
tribe,  were  not  weak;  their  men  were 
tall  and  sinewy,  their  women  were 
strong  of  heart,  and  even  their  chil- 
dren were  not  afraid  to  die  a  warrior's 
death.  Their  chief  was  elected  by  the 
squaws  of  the  tribe,  and  his  title  was 
Ruler  of  the  Cataract.  The  squaws 
always  chose  the  man  who  appeared  to 
them  the  most  manly,  the  wisest,  and 
the  most  just.  It  often  happened  that 
messengers  came  to  the  Oniahgahrahs 
to  ask  their  chief's  advice  in  cases  of 
grave  importance  or  to  settle  disputes 
between  hostile  nations. 


r 


THE  ONIAHGAHRAH  INDIANS.  3 

In  obedience  to  an  old  oracle  once 
given  during  a  time  of  fearful  famine, 
the  Oniahgahrahs  were  wont  to  sacri- 
fice annually  in  the  thundering  waters 
the  fairest  and  purest  virgin  of  their 
tribe.  This  sacrifice  was  not  regarded 
as  a  sad  or  mournful  event ;  on  the 
contrary,  although  the  irresistible  de- 
scent from  the  crest  of  the  cataract 
into  the  deep  gorge,  foaming  and  seeth- 
ing in  an  eternal  tempest,  was  awful 
and  appalling,  the  honor  of  being  cho- 
sen as  the  heroine  of  the  festival  was 
greatly  coveted  by  the  young  maidens. 
She  who  was  singled  out  to  be  offered 
to  the  Great  Spirit,  had  to  rise  in  the 
assembly  of  the  people  and  to  avow 
with  a  clear  voice  that  she  unhesita- 
tingly, voluntarily,  and  gladly  accepted 
the  honor  as  a  holy  duty.  Clad  in 
white  robes  she  acted  as  the  ])nestess 


4  THE  chief's  daughter. 

of  the  feast,  lifting  up  Her  hands  in 
prayer,  in  thanks,  and  in  blessings. 
Then  she  had  to  enter  a  white  canoe 
decked  with  flowers  and  choice  fruits, 
and  while  she  was  swiftly  gliding  down 
the  stream  upon  the  wild  rapids  of  the 
river  her  lot  was  envied  rather  than 
bewailed  by  her  sisters  who  stood  on 
the  shore  waving  their  hands  and 
chanting  a  sacred  song  to  the  Great 
Spirit  whose  voice  is  heard  in  the 
thundering  waters. 

The  Ruler  of  the  Cataract  was  re- 
garded as  a  prophet  endowed  with  su- 
pernatural wisdom ;  for  not  one  of  the 
Indians  doubted  that  when  he  sat  in 
the  gorge  listening  to  the  overwhelm- 
ing roar  of  the  thundering  waters,  he 
understood  the  very  words  which  the 
Great  Spirit  uttered  in  response  to  the 
questions  that  weighed   on  his  heart. 


THE  ONIAHGAHRAH  INDIANS. 


The   last   chief   who   bore   the   title 


Ruler  of  the  Cataract  was  Eagle  Eye,  a 
noble-looking  man  of  imposing  figure, 


6  THK  chief's  daughter. 

wise,  benevolent,  and  large -hearted, 
mucH  beloved  by  bis  own  people  and 
greatly  renowned  among  tbe  otber 
tribes  of  tbe  great  family  of  Indian 
nations. 

We  children  of  tbe  twentieth  cen- 
tury think  that  the  annual  sacrifice  of  a 
maiden  was  the  act  of  a  barbarous  age, 
but  we  should  probably  have  judged 
otherwise,  had  we  lived  in  the  time, 
and  been  familiar  with  the  ideas,  of 
the  Indians  who  inhabited  the  country. 
The  heroic  death  of  a  virgin  whose 
beauty  entitled  her  to  dream  of  the 
happiest  future  in  this  life,  was  the 
strongest  proof  of  the  valor  of  the  Oni- 
ahgahrahs.  It  was  said  that  so  long 
as  the  maidens  of  the  tribe  showed  an 
eagerness  to  be  esteemed  worthy  of  this 
awe-inspiring  distinction,  the  name  of 
the  Oniahgahrahs  would  be  respected 


THE  ONIAHGAHRAH  INDIANS. 


A 


and  honored  among  all  the  other  na- 
tions ;  and  there  was  perhaps  a  deep 
truth  in  the  traditional  prophecy,  that 
the  tribe,  although  small,  would  pros- 
per so  long  as  the  sacrifice  was  main- 
tained, but  that  when  a  virgin  could  no 
longer  be  found  who  would  unhesita- 
tingly, voluntarily,  and  gladly  accept 
the  great  honor  of  dying  in  the  thun- 
dering waters,  the  tribe  would  lose  the 
regard  of  the  gods  as  well  as  of  the 
nations  among  which  they  lived,  would 
undergo  unspeakable  calamities,  fam- 
ines, disastrous  wars,  and  other  dread- 
ful suffering,  and  would  rapidly  pass 
out  of  existence. 


THE  PALEFACED  STRANGERS. 


T  was  toward  the  end  of 
the  seventeentli  century 
when  the  white  man  first 
set  eyes  on  the  cataract 
of  the  thundering  waters.  Chevalier 
Robert  de  La  Salle,  the  French  pio- 
neer, came  with  his  companions  up  the 
St.  Lawrence  river,  and  was  received 
with  hospitality  by  the  Oniahgahrahs. 
A  trading-station  was  built  for  the 
French  merchants  that  followed  in  the 
wake  of  La  Salle's  expedition.  They 
unpacked  their  goods,  and  a  lively 
traffic  with  the  Indians  of  the  neigh- 
borhood was'  at  once  established. 
The  chivalrous  French  commander, 


THE  PALEFACED  STRANGERS.  9 

anxious  to  gain  the  confidence  of  the 
famous  chief  of  the  Oniahgahrahs,  in- 
vited Eagle  Eye  to  visit  the  settlement ; 
and  Eagle  Eye  was  glad  to  see  the 
place  and  to  converse  with  the  pale- 
faced  traders,  that  he  might  learn  their 
ways  and  profit  by  their  wisdom. 

Greatly  was  the  intellectual  horizon 
of  the  simple-minded  Indian  widened 
by  this  friendly  contact  with  the  for- 
eigners who  had  come  from  an  un- 
known country  that  lay  far,  far  away 
toward  the  sunrise,  beyond  the  watery 
waste  of  the  mighty  ocean !  How  odd 
their  dress,  how  pale  their  complexion, 
how  powerful  their  weapons,  how  pecu- 
liar their  language,  how  strange  their 
manners,  and  what  could  the  Indians 
not  learn  from  them !  They  were  so 
marvellously  adroit  in  all  kinds  of 
handicraft,  and  could  make  better  iron 


10  THE  chief's  daughter. 

tools  than  the  wisest  artificers  among 
the  natives. 

It  was  a  new  world  that  opened  be- 
fore the  mental  vision  of  the  chief. 
What  great  opportunities  offered  them- 
selves here,  yet  what  a  tremendous 
change  would  at  the  same  time  be  nat- 
urally wrought  in  the  life  of  the  red 
man  by  the  influx  of  all  these  innova- 
tions! Eagle  Eye's  head  began  to 
swim  at  the  thought  of  how  different 
conditions  would  be,  and  of  how  greatly 
his  people  and  himself  would  be 
changed  in  the  transformation.  Yet 
he  felt  no  fear  nor  apprehension,  for 
he  was  brave  and  believed  that  what- 
ever would  lift  mankind  higher  should 
be  welcomed,  even  though  it  would 
abolish  many  of  the  traditions  that  had 
been  sacred  to  him  and  his  fathers. 

In   the   party   of    the   Chevalier   de 


THE  PALEFACED  STRANGERS.       11 

La  Salle  there  was  a  missionary,  a 
French  priest,  who  was  called  Father 
Hennepin,  a  benevolent,  kind-hearted 


man,  who  loved  the  Indians  and  burned 
with  the  desire  to  preach  them  the 
Gospel.     When  he  met  Eagle  Eye,  he 


12         the:  chief's  daughter. 

sounded  him  at  once  as  to  Ms  religious 
convictions  and  asked  him  whether  the 
Indians  knew  an3^thing  of  God,  the 
Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  Universe. 
^'Indeed  we  know  him,"  replied  the 
chief;  ^Sve  call  him  the  Great  Spirit, 
and  he  is  nearer  to  us  than  to  the  rest 
of  mankind.  Though  he  is  ever^^- 
where,  he  speaks  to  us  in  the  deafen- 
ing din  of  the  thundering  waters.  The 
Oniahgahrahs  are  his  chosen  people, 
blessed  and  beloved  above  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  and  we  show  him 
our  gratitude  by  annually  sacrificing 
to  him  the  purest  and  most  beautiful 
maiden  of  our  tribe." 

The  missionary  was  horror-stricken. 
Was  it  possible  that  this  noble-looking 
man  could  be  so  savage  as  to  believe 
in  human  sacrifices?  A  shudder  ran 
through  his  frame,  and  having  gazed 


THE  PALKFACED  STRANGERS.       13 


searcliingly  for  a  wHile  into  tHe  deep 
brown  eyes  of  the  Indian,  he  said:  "I 
shall  visit  you  and  your  tribe  in  your 
wigwams  at  the  thundering  waters,  and 
will  tell  you  of  the  sacrificial  death  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  is  the  only  be- 
gotten son  of  God,  the  Great  Spirit, 
the  Creator  and  Lord  of  the  Universe. '' 
The  Ruler  of  the  Cataract  courte- 
ously bowed  his  assent  to  the  priest, 
and  said:  '^You  are  most  welcome, 
venerable  man,  and  we  shall  be  glad 
to  listen  to  the  words  of  your  mouth." 


THE  MISSIONARY. 

HILE  the  white  strangers, 
eager  to  explore  the  coun- 
try that  stretched  still  far- 
ther west,  were  building  a 
ship  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  in 
Cayuga  Creek,  about  five  miles  above 
the  falls,  Father  Hennepin  frequently 
crossed  the  river  in  a  boat  and  visited 
the  Ruler  of  the  Cataract.  The  French 
priest  had  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Indians,  and  was  much 
liked  by  those  who  knew  the  kindness 
of  his  heart.  Once  he  sat  upon  the 
skin  of  a  black  bear  in  the  wigwam  of 
Eagle  Eye,  the  chieftain  of  the  Oniali- 
gahrahs,  and  smoked  with  him  the  pipe 


THE  MISSIONARY.  IS 

of  peace.  Lelawala,  the  chief's  beauti- 
ful daughter,  stood  before  him,  and  he 
could  not  help  looking  upon  her  with 
admiration  and  astonishment,  as  she 
spoke  of  the  sweet  hope  of  being*  cho- 
sen priestess  of  the  sacred  rites  and  of 
riding  in  the  white  canoe  over  the  brink 
of  the  precipice  into  the  thundering 
waters.  Her  eyes  beamed  weirdly  with 
holy  enthusiasm  and  fervid  readiness 
to  give  up  her  life  to  the  Great  Spirit 
for  the  benefit  of  her  people. 

*'0  great  Eagle  Eye,"  exclaimed 
Father  Hennepin,  '^you  are  famous 
for  your  wisdom  among  the  chiefs  of 
the  Ongiahras.  Your  wife  died  when 
she  gave  birth  to  Lelawala,  and  this 
your  only  daughter  will  be  the  comfort 
of  your  old  age !  And  now  you  are  to 
suffer  her  to  die  for  a  mere  supersti- 
tion? " 


16         THE  chief's  daughter. 

The  chief  looked  with  fatherly  pride 
upon  the  lovely  figure  of  Lelawala. 
He  said  slowly  but  with  emphasis : 
* '  Eagle  Eye  is  proud  of  his  daughter. 
No  maiden  is  better  fitted  to  be  priest- 
ess than  she.  The  Great  Spirit  will 
receive  her  in  the  happy  hunting 
grounds  with  more  grace  and  higher 
honors  than  ever  before  greeted  mortal 
man  after  death." 

"Eagle  Eye,"  replied  Father  Hen- 
nepin, "you  are  unenlightened,  and  in 
your  heathen  ignorance  you  are  about 
to  commit  a  terrible  crime.  Your  wor- 
ship of  the  Great  Spirit  is  barbarous, 
your  customs  are  cruel  and  inhuman. 
Let  me  teach  you  a  higher  religion 
and  you  will  learn  a  better  way  of 
honoring  the  Great  Spirit." 

Father  Hennepin  now  began  to  in- 
struct the  chief  and  his  fair  daughter  in 


THE  MISSIONARY. 


17 


the  mysteries  of  Christianity  :  ' '  The 
Great  Spirit,"  said  he,  ''sent  us  his 
only  son,  Jesus  Christ,  who,  although 
of  royal  birth,  lived  poor  among  us 
and  taught  us  the  will  of  his  divine 


^L^^:A-^  .      .)^'  JS'^-^x^ 


'iJb: 


father.  He  was  persecuted  by  the 
wicked,  but  he  remained  faithful  to  his 
mission  of  preaching  the  salvation  of 
mankind.  His  enemies  at  last  pre- 
vailed over  him  and  he  suffered  a  cruel 
death  on  the  cross  for  our  sake,  but  his 


18         THE  chief's  daughter. 

disciples  preached  the  Gospel  which  he 
had  revealed  to  them ;  and  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  now  spreading  all  over 
the  earth.  Christ's  religion  is  a  reli- 
gion of  love,  and  Christ  redeems  us 
from  all  evil.  The  Great  Spirit  is  a 
God  of  life,  not  of  death;  he  desires 
mercy  and  not  sacrifice ;  a  bruised 
reed  shall  he  not  break  and  a  smoking 
flax  shall  he  not  quench." 

The  missionary  grew  eloquent,  for 
he  spoke  to  attentive  ears.  The  chief 
and  his  daughter  eagerly  listened  to 
him  as  he  related  the  simple  story  of 
the  eventful  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
They  asked  it  of  the  w^hite  stranger 
again  and  again  until  they  were  famil- 
iar with  all  the  details  of  Christ's 
tragic  death  on  Golgotha. 

When  Father  Hennepin  felt  that  he 
had  made  a  deep  impression  upon  their 


THE  MISSIONARY.  19 

minds,  lie  asked  tlie  chief  of  the  Oniah- 
gahrahs,  whether  he  would  be  ready 
to  embrace  Christianity.  *' Yes,''  was 
Eagle  Eye's  prompt  reply.  '^ I  accept 
the  religion  of  Christ  and  shall  be 
pleased  to  receive  the  holy  baptism  to- 
gether with  Lelawala  on  the  great  day 
when  she  shall  pass  through  the  thun- 
dering waters  to  greet  the  Great  Spirit 
and  bring  down  upon  our  tribe  his 
mercy  and  his  blessings." 

^'You  do  not  understand  Christ's 
religion,"  rejoined  Father  Hennepin, 
*'if  you  continue  in  your  pagan  way 
of  sacrificing  human  beings.  Do  you 
not  see  that  it  is  a  crime  to  murder 
your  daughter?  " 

"Sacrifice  is  no  murder,"  retorted 
Eagle  Eye  sternly.  "Your  own  words 
bear  witness  against  you.  Christ,  you 
say,  has  set  us  an  example.     He  suf- 


20 


The:  chief's  daughter. 


fered  himself  to  be  sacrificed  for  man- 
kind. We  are  doing  tlie  same.  Lela- 
wala  is  my  only  child,  so  Jesus  the 
Christ  was  the  Great  Spirit's  only  be- 
gotten son.  Why  do  you  say  that 
Christ's  sacrifice  is  great  and  holy  and 
praiseworthy,  while  our  sacrifices  are 
evil  and  barbarous  and  superstitious. 
Our  custom  is  a  holy  tradition;  we 
simply  obey  the  command  of  the  Great 
Spirit  and  we  know  that  so  long  as  our 
obedience  continues,  his  blessing  will 
be  upon  us  and  upon  our  children. 


n 


THE  RELIGION  OF  SACRIFICE. 

ATHER  Hennepin's  visits 
were  frequent  among  the 
Oniahgahralis,  for  never 
had  he  better  disciples  in 
the  truths  of  religion.  Lelawala  espe- 
cially never  tired  of  listening  to  Bible 
stories,  and  she  very  soon  knew  by 
heart  many  of  the  most  beautiful  sen- 
tences of  the  scriptures.  No  wonder 
that  the  white  stranger  often  stayed 
several  days  and  found  not  only  the 
chief  and  his  daughter  but  all  the 
people  of  the  tribe  ready  to  listen  to 
his  instructions.  But  w^henever  he  de- 
nounced the  old  custom  of  sacrificing 
a  young  virgin  to  the  Great  Spirit  in 


22 


THE  chief's  daughter. 


tlie  thundering  waters,  he  was  inter- 
rupted by  a  resentful  mur- 
mur from  his  audience. 

It  was  on  such  ^n  occasion 
once  that  Lelawala  rose  and, 
standing  nobly  upright  in  the 


midst  of  her  people,  raised 
her  hand,  while  their  indig- 
nant voices  were  hushed  in 
reverent  silence.    She  under- 

ifv-^    took   to    answer    the    argu- 

ments  of  the  white  stranger,  and  her 
words  were  like  the  speech  of  one  that 


THE  RELIGION  OF  SACRIFICE.       23 

has  authority  :  ' '  Your  story  of  the  Cru- 
cified," said  Lelawala,  ''is  sublime.  I 
see  Christ,  of  whom  you  speak  as  the 
son  of  God,  before  me.  I  see  the  bleed- 
ing wound  in  his  breast,  I  see  the 
pierced  hands  and  feet,  and  he  looks 
upon  me  with  a  sweet  kindness  that 
makes  me  tremble  wdth  joy.  Now 
listen,  white  stranger !  Seeing  the  Cru- 
cified before  me  face  to  face,  I  asked 
him  w^hether  or  not  it  w^as  our  duty  to 
be  obedient  to  the  sacred  traditions  of 
our  tribe,  and  I  still  hear  his  gentle 
voice  ringing  in  mine  ears.  Will  you 
know  his  answer?  He  says,  'The  same 
Great  Spirit  w^ho  demanded  the  sacri- 
fice of  me,  demands  it  of  you.  Should 
the  choice  of  your  people  fall  upon 
you,  then  take  up  your  cross  and  fol- 
low me.'  " 

The  Oniahgahrahs  cheered  enthusi- 


24         THE  chief's  daughter. 

astically  and  Father  Hennepin  himself 
was  overwhelmed  with  the  power  of 
her  words.  There  she  stood,  the  chief's 
proud  daughter  with  her  long  dark 
tresses,  her  posture  indicating  self- 
possession  and  dignity,  and  her  eyes 
glancing  commandingly  over  the  audi- 
ence. There  she  stood  like  a  saint  of 
the  church,  a  prophetess  of  the  re- 
ligion of  self -surrender  and  sacrifice. 
All  eyes  were  turned  upon  her,  and 
she  continued  solemnly : 

*'Know,  stranger,  that  we  all  live 
by  sacrifice.  The  warrior  who  falls  in 
battle  dies  for  the  tribe ;  the  worker  in 
the  fields  who  endures  hunger,  thirst, 
and  fatigue,  suffers  and  toils  that  others 
may  live.  The  mother  nurses  her  chil- 
dren with  the  milk  of  her  own  breast, 
and  it  is  life  of  her  life  that  the  babe 
sucks.     Do  not  tell  us  that  Jesus  the 


THE  RELIGION  OF  SACRIFICE.       25 

Christ  Has  done  all  for  us  and  that  we 
need  no  longer  offer  sacrifices  to  the 
Great  Spirit;  for  not  only  we,  the 
Oniahgahrahs,  live  by  sacrifice  but  all 
mankind  also.  Happy  the  men  and 
the  women  who  are  chosen  to  be  priests 
of  the  Great  Spirit,  to  offer  either  the 
strength  of  their  muscles,  or  the  power 
of  their  minds,  or  their  very  lives,  as 
sacrifices  for  their  fellow-beings.  For 
none  of  us  liveth  to  himself,  and  no 
man  dieth  to  himself.  So  let  us  live 
and  die  to  Him  who  is  the  breath  in 
our  breasts,  and  the  spirit  in  our  souls. 
Nor  let  us  shrink  from  sacrifice,  be  it 
ever  so  great !  '  ^   . 

Father  Hennepin  waited  a  moment 
in  silence  to  collect  his  thoughts,  and 
in  his  soul  he  prayed  secretly:  Give, 
O  my  God,  into  my  heart  the  right 
words  so  that  I  may  answer  her  and 


26         THE  chief's  daughter. 

convince  her  of  her  errors.  Then  he  re- 
plied :  ' '  Fair  Lelawala !  Your  words  are 
powerful,  because  they  are  the  utter- 
ances of  a  noble  mind.  But  you  are 
mistaken !  Open  your  ears  and  listen 
to  reason.  Can  you  not  see  that  your 
sacrifices  are  more  than  useless,  that 
the  very  noblest  souls  of  your  people, 
those  whose  lives  would  otherwise 
richly  adorn  the  human  race  and  bless 
mankind  with  the  choicest  services, 
are  thus  almost  as  in  wantonness  flung 
to  waste?  Offer  not  your  death  but 
your  life.  Live  for  mankind,  for  your 
people,  for  a  husband  whom  you  may 
choose  from  the  bravest  of  the  youths 
of  your  tribe. — You  shake  your  head! 
— If  you  object  to  worldly  love,  live  for 
a  holier  cause,  live  for  the  religion  of 
the  Crucified  whose  teachings  you  have 
hitherto  but  imperfectly  grasped.'' 


THE  RELIGION  OE  SACRIFICE.       21 

*^Your  words  are  in  vain,  white 
man,"  tHe  maiden  said,  ^'you  forget 
that  death  does  not  end  all,  and  I  feel 
darkly  that  even  you  have  not  yet  com- 
passed the  full  meaning  of  the  lesson 
taught  by  the  Crucified.  Future  gen- 
erations will  understand  it  better  than 
we  do.  You  call  my  sacrifice  useless  ; 
but  why  not  Christ's  also?  No  one 
was  immediately  benefited  by  his  death. 
But  he  set  an  example  to  m^ankind ; 
and  so  let  me  set  an  example  to  my 
people,  lest  our  neighbors  sneer  at  us 
saying:  The  strength  of  the  Oniah- 
gahrahs  is  gone ;  there  is  none  among 
them  who  dares  face  death.  They  live 
on  the  banks  of  the  holy  river  out  of 
whose  waters  the  Great  Spirit  speaks 
with  a  voice  of  thunder,  but  they  have 
grown  cowards  and  shrink  from  his 
countenance. '^ 


^■^w 

t^m 

5^-i}; 

K%^'^i: 

^K^/lj^   J 

K*'»':<" 

■^1^4 

■^'U^^'.' 

I^M^''' 

^s^^jrC- 

^■^V^^i^ 

g 

THE  ANXIETY  OF  DOUBT. 

A  SALLE  and  his  men 
had  finished  the  ship  upon 
which  they  intended  to 
pursue  their  westward  jour- 
ney. She  was  a  strong  boat  of  sixty 
tons,  named  "The  Griffin,"  and  Fa- 
ther Hennepin  was  called  back  to  join 
his  party. 

Before  Father  Hennepin  left,  he  had 
a  long  conversation  with  the  chief  and 
his  daughter.  He  applied  all  argu- 
ments to  convince  them  that  sacrifices 
of  life  belonged  to  ages  gone  by,  and 
that  a  new  era  had  dawned  upon  man- 
kind. "Believe  in  the  new  dispensa- 
tion ;   and  your  pagan  ceremonies  will 


THE  ANXIETY  OF  DOUBT.  29 

develop  into  a  religion  of  pure  trntli. 
The  trutH  wliich  you  see  now  as  through 
a  glass  darkly,  you  will  then  see  clearly 
face  to  face." 

Father  Hennepin  did  not  convince 
either  Eagle  Eye  or  his  daughter,  but 
his  words  fell  like  good  seed  upon  good 
ground,  for  both  began  to  ponder  over 
his  words.  They  began  to  grow  doubt- 
ful whether  in  truth  the  Great  Spirit 
demanded  such  a  terrible  sacrifice  of 
his  children.  Father  Hennepin  laid 
his  hands  upon  Lelawala's  head  and 
said:  ^^  Good-bye.  May  the  Great 
Spirit  show  you  the  right  way ;  and 
you,  dear  child,  act  as  your  duty  de- 
mands, even  should  it  be  against  the 
opinion  of  your  father  and  of  the  whole 
tribe ;  even  should  they  despise  and 
vilify  you  because  you  dare  to  abandon 
the  evil  ways  of  paganism.     Rather  be 


30  THE  chief's  daughter. 

a  martyr  struggling  for  the  trutH  than 
die  a  victim  upon  the  altar  of  supersti- 
tion.'' 

While  he  spoke  she  sank  upon  her 
knees  and  wept  bitterly.  ^'  Your  words 
are  kind,"  she  sobbed,  ''they  are  sweet 
like  honey :  but  are  they  not  the  words 
of  the  tempter?  You  show  me  a  way 
strewn  with  flowers  and  pleasant  to 
walk  in,  yet  Christ  said  :  '  Strait  is  the 
gate,  and  narrow  is  the  way  which 
leadeth  unto  life.'  I  am  struggling  to 
recognise  the  truth.  Pray  for  me  that 
the  Great  Spirit  show  me  the  right 
way." 

''I  do  pray  for  you,"  added  Father 
Hennepin  gently,  ''for  I  love  you 
dearly  with  a  father's  love.  God's 
most  sacred  blessings  upon  your  head ! 
Good-bye." 


THE  WAYS  OF  REVELATION. 

HE  chief  accompanied  his 
white  guest  a  few  miles 
up  stream  to  a  place  where 
the  current  is  gentle 
enough  to  allow  a  canoe  to  cross  the 
river.  There  he  rowed  Father  Henne- 
pin over  to  Cayuga  creek.  The  two 
men  shook  hands  and  looked  each 
other  straight  in  the  eye.  **  White 
stranger,''  said  Eagle  E3^e,  'V^^  have 
greatly  disturbed  the  peace  of  my  soul. 
Was  it  right  to  take  away  from  us  a 
faith  in  which  we  were  happy?  I  should 
have  seen  my  daughter  die  and  would 
have  felt  proud  of  the  brave  girl.  But 
alas !   I  can  do  so  no  more.   Tears  rush 


2>2  THE  chief's  daughter. 

to  my  eyes  when  I  think  of  that  hor- 
rible death  in  the  cold  waves  of  the 
thundering  waters.  You  have  made 
me  weak,  and  I  cry  like  a  child." 

^'What  you  call  weakness  is  the 
budding  of  wisdom,''  replied  Father 
Hennepin.  ^'  I  do  not  want  you  to  be 
weak ;  be  strong  and  suffer  no  longer 
the  continuation  of  this  cruel  custom." 

*'I  mean  to  be  strong.  Father,"  re- 
plied Eagle  Eye,  and  his  stern  face 
proved  the  truth  of  his  words. 

The  Christian  priest  pleaded :  ^ '  Break 
the  fetters  of  your  ancient  superstition. 
Look  but  into  your  soul  and  hearken 
to  the  still,  small  voice  of  your  con- 
science. The  Great  Spirit  is  speaking 
to  you  in  the  depths  of  your  heart  and 
appealing  to  your  love  for  your  daugh- 
ter, to  all  that  is  humane  in  your  mind, 
to  your  better  self.     In  our  conscience 


THE  WAYS  OF  REVELATION.         33 

the  Great  Spirit  speaks  to  us  and 
points  out  the  path  of  duty." 

*^ My  conscience,"  replied  the  chief 
with  calm  composure,  ^'bids  me  not  to 
be  a  coward,  but  to  obey  the  Great 
Spirit.  It  is  my  duty  as  the  ruler  of 
our  tribe  to  preserve  the  sacred  tradi- 
tion of  the  Oniahgahrahs,  and  to  keep 
my  people  in  faithful  obedience  to  the 
holy  ordinance  of  the  Great  Spirit. 
Since  you  came  I  am  a  changed  man. 
You  have  made  my  heart  soft,  and  my 
conscience  is  growing  weak.  Shall  I 
be  the  first  to  turn  my  back  upon  the 
faith  of  our  fathers?" 

^^But  the  Great  Spirit,"  rejoined 
Father  Hennepin  commandingly, 
*Moes  not  want  your  sacrifice." 

The  Indian  was  not  influenced  by 
the  authoritative  manner  in  which  the 
priest  spoke.     He  shook  his  head  and 


34         THE  chief's  daughter. 

retorted :  ^  ^  The  Great  Spirit  spoke  to 
our  fathers  and  bade  them  observe  the 
annual  sacrifice. '^ 

*^If  it  was  truly  the  Great  Spirit 
who  commanded  the  sacrifice,''  insisted 
the  missionary,  '^I  come  to  you  with 
better  instructions.  The  Great  Spirit 
speaks  now  to  you  through  me ;  I  come 
to  you  as  his  special  messenger  to  pro- 
claim to  you  the  dispensation  of  the 
new  covenant." 

The  chief  lifted  his  head,  indicating 
the  assurance  he  had  of  his  own  sacred 
ofiice  as  Ruler  of  the  Cataract,  and 
said:  ^^ Father,  you  are  a  holy  man, 
but  the  Great  Spirit  did  not  speak  to 
you  alone.  When  I  sat  musing  in  the 
gorge,  where  the  thundering  waters 
come  rushing  down  from  their  rocky 
ledge,  my  soul  all  intent  on  the  dire 
problem  that  faces  me,  I  hearkened  to 


THE  WAYS  OF  REVELATION.         35 

the  voice  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  in 
the  roar  of  the  cataract  I  heard  these 
words  echoing  through  mine  ears  in 
solemn  majesty: 

**I  am  the  same  fore'er  and  aye, 
The  same  I  am  to  you  to-day 
That  to  your  sires  I  was  of  yore. 
The  world  may  change,  but  I  remain, 
And  all  the  laws  which  I  ordain 
Remain  f orevermore. '  " 

^^ Truly,  God  remains  the  same!" 
said  the  French  priest,  ''but  we  learn 
to  understand  Him  better,  and  God  is 
good ;  he  is  more  pleased  with  us  when 
we  live  for  Him  than  when  we  die  for 
Him.'' 

The  Indian  lifted  his  hand  as  in  pro- 
test. ''When  we  die  we  are  not  dead ; 
when  we  die  our  soul  awakes  in  the 
happy  hunting-grounds  where  we  shall 


36         Till*:  ciiii<:k\s  dauchtkr. 

appreciate  His  goodness  far  better  tlian 
we  do  now/' 

The  Christian  missionary  conceded 
the  strenfjth  of  Eag^le  Eye's  arg^nnients 
bnt  did  not  ^ive  np  and  continncd  to 
plead  for  the  abolition  of  the  sava.8:e 
cnstoni.  He  pointed  ont  the  error  of 
niisinterpretini^  the  roar  of  the  rnshin^ 
waters  in  the  cataract  as  the  voice  of 
the  Great  Spirit.  ''It  is  the  sentiment 
of  yonr  own  sonl  which  yon  hear  in 
yonr  imaj^ination.  And  the  same  is 
trne  of  the  ancient  command.  Yonr 
fathers  were  mistaken." 

The  chief  objected,  saying:  ''If  onr 
fathers  were  mistaken,  why  not  yonrs 
too?  If  the  voice  of  the  Great  Spirit 
in  the  thnnderinji:  waters  is  an  illnsion, 
why  are  not  the  revelations  of  yonr 
prophets  and  of  Jesns  too  illusions? 
Except  that  the  Great  Spirit  j^ive  me 


THE  WAYS  OF  REVELATION.         37 

an  extraordinary  sign  which  is  unmis- 
takable, I  must  remain  faithful  to  the 
oracle  which  He  gave  to  my  fathers. 
If  he,  the  eternal,  the  immutable, 
wanted  me  to  change  His  religious  or- 
dinance. He  would  speak  to  me  face  to 
face  to  make  the  truth  known  to  me." 
**My  dear  friend,"  argued  Father 
Hennepin,  **do  not  expect  extraordi- 
nary signs ;  the  revelation  of  the  Great 
Spirit  all  around  you  is  plain  enough. 
Do  not  expect  him  to  speak  to  you  face 
to  face ;  for  he  is  not  a  man  like  you 
and  me;  he  is  spiritual,  and  you  must 
seek  him  in  the  spirit,  and  in  truth. 
Consult  your  conscience,  your  reason, 
your  better  judgment,  if  haply  yon 
might  feel  after  him  and  find  him.  If 
you  honestly  search  3^ou  will  compre- 
hend him,  for  he  is  no  hidden  God. 
Search  for  the  truth.  Through  a  knowl- 


38  THE  chief's  daughter. 

edge  of  the  truth,  not  otherwise,  will 
you  come  face  to  face  with  God.'* 

They  parted,  and  Father  Hennepin 
joined  the  little  company  of  French 
explorers.  When  they  set  sail  on  the 
Griffin  on  the  seventh  day  of  August 
in  the  year  1679,  the  chief  stood  on  the 
the  bluff  overlooking  the  river,  and  his 
eyes  followed  the   course  of  the  ship. 

His  heart  was  heavy,  his  soul  be- 
clouded with  doubts,  and  he  sighed  :  ^'  I 
will  gladly  do  the  will  of  the  Great 
Spirit.  If  he  would  only  give  me  a  sign 
and  reveal  to  me  the  path  of  duty!'' 

Eagle  E3^e  returned  to  his  wigwam 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  river.  When 
he  saw  his  daughter,  he  greeted  her 
kindly,  but  neither  spoke  to  the  other 
the  secret  thoughts  that  moved  their 
hearts.  Both  went  about  gloomily. 
Their  souls  were  oppressed  by  a  bur- 


THE  WAYS  OF  REVELATION. 


39 


den  too  heavy  for  their  strength  ;  they 
were  deeply  engaged  in  trying  to  solve 
a  problem  that  seemed  to  pass  their 
comprehension.  But  while  the  father 
became  sadder  and  sadder  from  day  to 
day,  the  daughter  grew  more  and  more 
cheerful  the  nearer  the  great  festival 
approached. 


THE  PRIESTESS. 

T  was  a  fine  day  in  tHe  fall 
of  the  year  1679,  when 
under  the  majestic  fir  trees 
of  the  virgin  forest  a  pro- 
cession moved  to  the  shore  where  the 
first  line  of  the  great  breakers  rises. 
Here  the  river  forms  a  bay,  called  the 
Elbow,  in  which  two  idyllic  islands 
are  situated.  The  water  that  rushes 
through  the  Elbow  is  gentle  in  com- 
parison with  the  wild  rapids  in  the  open 
stream.  There  the  river  is  apparently 
alive.  It  feels  but  too  well  that  it  is 
preparing  for  the  tremendous  leap  into 
the  abyss  below.  All  across  its  entire 
breadth  it  is  full  of  excitement.     Who 


THE  PRIESTESS.  41 

that  has  ever  seen  this  grand  spectacle, 
can  deny  that  the  river 
knows  the  destiny  that 
awaits  it  and  which  it  is 
anxious  to  fulfil?  Its  wa- 
ters are  seized  with  an  ir- 
resistible impulse  in  which 
without  any  apparent  cause 
the  smooth  surface  sud- 
denly changes.  Mighty  bil- 
lows rise  high  with  fervid 
expectation  in  bewildering 
tumult,  tossing  each  other 
so  as  to  present  to  the  sight 
a  majestic  chaos  of  super- 
abundant life,  eagerly  ra- 
cing   to   the   brink   of   the 


m 


:  1 


42  THE  chief's  daughter. 

precipice  as  if  every  drop  were  anxious 
to  be  the  first  at  tlie  place  and  to  obey 
the  laws  of  its  being  with  rapturous 
enthusiasm. 

The  procession  crossed  the  Elbow 
and  went  to  the  islands,  which  were 
called  by  the  red  man  the  Island  of 
Giving  Thanks  and  the  Island  of  Sac- 
rifice. On  the  former,  according  to 
the  old  custom,  the  election  took  place 
and  Lelawala  was  unanimously  chosen 
by  the  tribe.  When  she  accepted  the 
holy  office  she  said  with  deep  emo- 
tion: ^^I  accept  the  honor  of  this  holy 
duty  unhesitatingly,  voluntarily  and 
gladly." 

Did  she  speak  the  truth?  Yes,  for 
although  there  was  a  tremor  in  her 
voice  which  but  slightly  betrayed  the 
tumult  of  her  soul,  there  was  no  falter- 
ing, no  hesitation,  no  fear,  no  sadness, 


A 

/??. 

fk 

luw^K 

/^J 

v« 

s^v               VvJil^^B^ 

s    ["y 

V 

^J                 '^^^^^^E 

vg 

\ 

.  ^J|         K^s^^HB 

W 

44         THK  chief's  daughter. 

no  mournful  expression,  no  complaint. 
It  was  as  if  the  sunshine  of  peace  rested 
upon  her  words.  Her  purpose  was 
firm,  and  apparently  she  knew  that  her 
course  of  action  was  best  for  herself 
and  for  her  people. 

What  a  contrast  between  the  self- 
possession  of  the  heroic  maiden  and 
the  significance  of  her  words  that  boded 
a  dreadful  death  in  the  thundering  wa- 
ters. Exactly  so  the  sweet  colors  of 
the  rainbow  appear  as  an  emblem  of 
the  victory  of  spirit  over  matter,  above 
the  foaming  froth  of  the  tumultuous 
cataract.  Thus  the  soul  conquers  the 
terrors  of  death  and  abides  as  an  im- 
mortal presence  amidst  the  constant 
change  of  the  material  universe  out 
of  which  it  rises  in  its  grandeur  and 
beauty. 


FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH. 


ELAWALA  performed  all 
tlie  ceremonies  in  strict- 
est obedience  to  the  tradi- 
tional custom.  Then  all 
the  people  went  over  to  the  Island 
of  Sacrifice.  On  its  outmost  corner 
where  the  billows  madly  rush  round  a 
courageous  rock  that  dares  to  stop 
them  in  their  hurried  course,  she  stood 
as  the  priestess  of  the  Great  Spirit 
draped  in  her  vestments  of  white.  She 
prayed  for  her  tribe,  and  prayed  for 
all  mankind,  blessed  the  folk  that 
knelt  round  her  and  then  stepped  into 
the  canoe  which  was  tied  to  the  shore. 
Holding  in  one  hand  the  paddle  and  in 


46  THE  CHIEF^S  DAUGHTER. 

the  other  the  end  of  the  rope,  a  slight 
pull  on  which  would  loosen  the  noose 
that  still  kept  the  canoe  tied  to  the 
shore,  she  said  with  a  loud  and  com- 
manding voice  so  as  to  be  heard  in 
spite  of  the  roar  of  the  rapids : 

**  Farewell,  my  father,  and  ye  moth- 
ers and  sisters  and  brothers,  of  my 
tribe.  Lelawala  thanks  you  for  the 
honor  of  this  glorious  day.  But  I 
pray  you  in  the  name  of  the  Great 
Spirit,  let  my  sacrifice  be  the  last  one. 
Our  old  custom,  although  a  savage 
one,  is  not  wrong,  but  just  as  the 
grain  of  wheat  is  nobler  and  better 
than  the  husk  in  which  it  grows,  so 
the  truth  contained  in  our  custom  is 
greater  than  our  sacrifice.  The  right 
worship  of  the  Great  Spirit  does  not 
lie  in  obedience  to  old  ordinances  and 
ceremonies,  but   in   obedience   to   the 


FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH.  47 

trutli.  Do  not  believe  blindly  in  tra- 
ditions, be  they  ever  so  sacred  and 
venerable,  but  searcb  for  the  truth 
yourself.  The  truth  can  be  known, 
and  the  truth  will  make  you  free.  I 
have  long  been  doubtful  whether  I 
could  accept  the  honor  of  this  day 
while  rejecting  the  belief  in  the  right- 
fulness of  our  ceremonies.  But  I  did 
accept  it,  for  I  am  convinced  that  it  is 
the  right  course  I  take.  I  must  prove 
to  you  that  it  is  not  cowardice  on  my 
part  if  I  reject  our  time-honored  and 
holy  tradition.  I  must  prove  that  my 
personal  fate  had  naught  to  do  with 
the  admonition  I  now  make.  And 
more  still !  The  priestess  herself  must 
proclaim  the  new  dispensation  of  the 
Great  Spirit.  While  dying  as  a  sacri- 
fice of  the  old  faith,  I  charge  you  to 


48         THE  chief's  daughter. 

obey  tlie  will  of  the  Great  Spirit  which 
is  revealed  to  you  in  these  words." 

While  Lelawala  spoke,  she  appeared 
to  her  father  as  a  divine  messenger. 
Every  word  from  her  tongue  awakened 
a  powerful  echo  in  his  heart.  She  had 
proclaimed  the  truth,  she  had  proved 
herself  strong  to  face  death  —  nobody 
doubted  the  courage  of  the  chieftain's 
daughter.  Why  then  should  she  go 
down  into  the  thundering  waters  and 
die  a  cruel  death  for  an  old  error? 
His  thoughts,  anxieties,  and  wishes 
were  visibly  expressed  in  the  quiver- 
ing  of  his  lips.  He  felt  impelled  to 
shout:  ^^Come  my  friends,  let  us  lift 
the  noble  maiden  out  of  the  canoe  of 
death  and  let  us  carry  her  home  in  tri- 
umph." 

She  threw  one  more  glance  of  fare- 
well toward  her  people,  and  reading  the 


FAITHFUL  UNTO  DEATH.  49 

anxious  hopes  in  the  face  of  her  dear 
father,  smiling  sadly  shook  her  head. 
One  quick  pull  of  her  graceful  hand 
untied  the  rope  and  her  light  canoe 
flew  over  the  turbid  waters,  more  and 
more  swiftly  approaching  the  preci- 
pice. There  she  stood  upright,  guid- 
ing fearlessly  her  little  boat  through 
the  tumult  of  the  wild  waves,  straight 
toward  the  middle  of  the  great  Horse- 
shoe Falls. 

Her  father  stood  aghast.  All  the 
life  of  his  soul  seemed  to  wither  away 
in  one  terrible  moment.  No  cry  came 
from  his  lips,  but  his  eyes  looked 
glassy  and  terror-stricken.  With  one 
bound  he  leaped  into  his  little  canoe 
which  stood  near  by  where  the  Elbow 
departs  from  the  main  river,  and  be- 
fore his  people  could  comprehend  the 
purpose  of  his  actions  he  had  cut  the 


50 


THE  chief's  daughter. 


rope  and  pushed  the  canoe  powerfully 
with  his  paddle  out  into  the  wild  rap- 
ids. There  he  glided  along  beyond 
any  possibility  of  rescue,  down,  down, 
swifter  and  swifter — and  now  he  sank 
into  the  gorge  on  the  same  spot  where 
his  daughter  had  disappeared  among 
the  clouds  of  white  foam,  surrounded 
by  the  glorious  halo  of  the  rainbow. 

This   was   the   last   sacrifice  of   the 
Oniahgahrah  Indians. 


THE  TUSCARORA  INDIANS. 

HE  RED  man  lias  been 
swept  away  by  the  irre- 
sistible wave  of  wbite  set- 
tlers, but  there  is  an  In- 
dian reservation  left  near  Niagara 
Falls.  Its  territory,  several  thousand 
acres,  belongs  to  a  small  tribe  who  call 
themselves  the  Tuscaroras,  and  the 
Tuscaroras  boast  of  being  the  only  de- 
scendants that  are  left  of  the  Oniah- 
gahrahs. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  tell  their 
fortunes.  They  lived  for  some  time 
after  the  death  of  chief  Eagle  Eye 
and  his  daughter  Lelawala  at  Niagara 
Falls,  then  they  dwelt  on  the  banks  of 


52  THE  CHIEF^S  DAUGHTER. 

the  Oswego,  and  after  many  adventures 
settled  again  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Niagara  Falls,  where  the  United  States 
government  confirmed  the  title  to  their 
lands.  They  are  Christians,  belonging 
partly  to  the  Baptist,  and  partly  to  the 
Presbyterian  churches. 

Some  of  the  Oniahgahrahs  believed 
that  Lelawala  and  her  father  continued 
to  live  below  the  rocks  in  a  crystal- 
line grotto  built  by  the  rushing  wa- 
ters. They  called  her  the  Maid  of  the 
Mist,  and  him  the  Ruler  of  the  Cata- 
ract. But  they  feared  them  not,  for 
both  were  said  to  be  good  spirits.  He 
is  stern  and  strong,  but  she  is  mild 
and  sweet.  Their  home  is  in  the  un- 
fathomable depths  of  the  Horseshoe 
Falls,  but  on  moonlight  nights  they 
visit  the  Three  Sister  Islands  or  the 
Cave   of  the  Winds   and  their  figures 


THE  TUSCARORA  INDIANS. 


53 


may  be  seen  hovering  over  tlie  rapids 
or  round  tliat  beautiful  white  sheet 
of   water   called    the    Bridal   Veil. 

If  you,  gentle  reader,  should  ever 
visit  Niagara  Falls,  you  may  see 
the  Ruler  of  the  Cataract,  or  you  may 


see  the  Maid  of  the  Mist,  according 
as  your  spiritual  eye  be  open  either 
to  the  powerful  grandeur  or  to  the 
chaste  beauty  of  the  scenery.  If  you 
are  favored  by  a  happy  idiosyncracy 
of  mind  you  may  discover  the  forms 
of  both,  and  then   you  will  see  as  in 


54 


THE  chief's  daughter. 


a  mirror  the  tremendous  sublimity  of 
the  universe  out  of  which  the  human 
soul  builds  its  highest  intellectual  and 
moral  ideals.  Ever  fleeting, ever  chan- 
ging, and  overwhelmingly  awful  is  the 
irresistible  force  of 
this  apparent  chaos ; 
but  wonderfully  deli- 
cate and  at  the  same 
time  majestic  is  the 
repose  of  the  spiri- 
tual life  that  appears 
rainbow  -  colored  in 
this  tremendous  rush 
of  matter  in  motion. 


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